Strawberry

Strawberry

A strawberry is a short plant in the wild strawberry genus of the rose family. The name is also used for its very common sweet edible "fruit" and for flavors that taste like it. The real fruit of the plant are the tiny "seeds" around the "fruit", which is actually a sweet swelling of the plant's stem around the fruit. The plant grown today is a mix of two other species of wild strawberries and was first grown in the 1750s.

History

People have eaten different kinds of wild strawberries for thousands of years. Today's bigger strawberry was first made around Brest in Brittany (northwest France) in the 1750s. It was made by joining the Virginia strawberry from eastern North America to the European Hautbois and the Chilean strawberry from western South America.

Farming

Most strawberries are grown on farms. Strawberry farmers often have special bees that they take care of, so that the bees can help the strawberry plants grow their "fruit".

Strawberry stems are called runners. They grow above ground. They are a type of stolon.

Fruit

The real fruit of the strawberries are the achenes, which people usually think of as the little seeds around the outside of the larger red "fruit". What people think is the "fruit" is really the swollen stems between these fruit. This kind of fruit, where different ovaries grow into a single larger "fruit", is called an "aggregate fruit".

Strawberries are rich in vitamin C and manganese.

Interesting facts about Strawberry

• Are you aware that strawberries grow on a plant that is very low to the ground?

• Are you aware that every strawberry has approximately 200 tiny seeds?

• Are you aware that the strawberry is the only fruit with seeds on the outside rather than on the inside?

• Are you aware that ripe strawberries are red?

• Are you aware that strawberries have a heart shape?

• Are you aware that just eight strawberries contain 140% of a child’s recommended daily intake for vitamin C?

Lemon Strawberry Cupcake

• Are you aware that strawberries are sweet and a healthy snack?

• Are you aware that once you pick a strawberry it won’t ripen any further?

• Are you aware that you should keep strawberries in the refrigerator after you purchase?

• Are you aware that New Jersey strawberries are available from late May to early July?

• Are you aware that strawberries are picked by hand?

• Are you aware that strawberries are a popular addition to dairy products such as ice cream, milkshakes, yogurt and smoothies?

• Are you aware that California produces 75% of the United States’ strawberries?

Strawberry

• Are you aware that California grows one billion pounds of strawberries per year? (If you were to lay each berry that California produces side by side, they would go around the world 15 times.)

• Are you aware that strawberries are grown in every state in the U.S.?

• Are you aware that the American Indians used to crush berries and mix with cornmeal and bake into strawberry bread?

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Strawberry flower

• Are you aware that after early colonists tried the Indians’ strawberry bread they developed their version of the recipe and created strawberry shortcake?

Related pages

• Wild strawberry

Nutritional information on Strawberry

NB:Carbohydrate, by difference(total carbs-fiber) is also called net carbs